Captive Heart: Church Planting

The Hubs and I began this church planting journey in Fernley, Nevada...just 30 minutes from the Reno/Sparks area. We moved to Fernley on the last day of January 2009. This has been a new and exciting adventure for us! Our launch date was September 13, 2009! It was an incredibly exciting service as we had over 200 in attendance! God is sooo awesome!!

I have been married to my college sweetheart, Rod Idle, since 1983 and we have two beautiful children(not so much children anymore).

Our daughter, Lyndsay, left her full-time ministry in Virginia to serve as our Worship/Youth minister. She is a very gifted young lady and a joy to be around!

Our son, Bradley, moved with us to Nevada from Virginia. He is presently recovering from a brain trauma event that occurred just after his second year attending Florida Christian College. This was caused by a rare migraine condition. We are praying that God will one day completely restore to our son all that he lost a result of this, his second 'stroke' (the first happened when he was just 13 years old). We are so grateful to have him with us! In spite of this, or perhaps because of this, God has enabled him to minister to people in a very unique way.

I am so excited to share with you all of what God has taught us and brought us through, and sharing in this new venture as well. So much has happened since the beginning of this church plant! Here are a few pictures from the Grand Beginnings Service September 13, 2009.
...Be sure to scroll all the way down the page to see Journey's more permanent home and the pics of the building and new sign!!!

What???

You'll have to ask to get the story about that guy (Todd Hudson) stripping off his shirt.

We held our services for the first year in the common area of Fernley High School...Journey Kids met in the Cafeteria area and the First Steps Nursery set up each Sunday in the teacher's lounge. It was a great setup...and we had so many who stepped up and helped set up each and every Sunday we met there! They were awesome!!!

Journey Kids

First Steps Nursery

We served Starbucks coffee from our local Starbucks in Fernley. Now that we are in our own building we are making our own....and we still have home-baked goods and donuts every Sunday morning!

Grand Beginnings Service...September 13, 2009

Here is a photo of almost everyone in the Grand Beginnings Service...those in the Children's Ministry areas are not pictured here....we had over 200 in attendance that Sunday!! God is good!!

Rod is offering communion...a practice we hold each and every Sunday at Journey...we never tire of being reminded of the sacrifice our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ made for us ... taking the cup, representing His shed blood... and bread, representing His broken body.... Doing this each Sunday helps us to reflect on all He has done both for us and in us!!

" While they were eating Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to His disciples saying,'take and eat; this is my body.' Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying,'Drink from it all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured for many for the forgiveness of sins.' " Matthew 26:26-28

Yep...that's my beautiful and gifted daughter, Lyndsay, leading worship! We are so fortunate that she felt called to help us with this new church plant!! Oh...and yes that is me on the right...I am just one of the many who serves on the worship team at Journey. We have been blessed with so many talented musicians...it is truly humbling to be a part of the great work that God is doing in Fernley, NV!!

Our own building! No more setting up and tearing down every week!

When Rod and I first moved to Fernley, we began to scout out the town for a possible location where Journey could meet and hold services.

From the moment Rod saw this building he knew this was the place God had for us. Almost every morning Rod would go to one of the highest hills around and pray for the town... then he would drive over to the building and pray in the parking lot.

He even got to know the owners who were trying to lease the building personally and shared with them his vision...this was a vision God had given him...a vision of ministry being done here...people coming and going...children of Fernley having a place to go to and hang out after school...for tutoring and a snack, needs being met...a place of Prayer...Worship and activity!

I am amazed and humbled to see so much of the vision God had given to my husband that day come to fruition! I am looking forward to experiencing so much more, as God continues to lead this ministry forward to seek and save the lost and to meet needs within this community.

Thank you Lord for allowing us to take part in the building up of your kingdom!!

One of many baptisms that have taken place at Journey

Journey's Leadership
In Journey's early years, we operated under the umbrella of Stadia, our church plant organization along with the full prayer support of Pastor Bill Sherman and leaders at Hope Community Church in Reno, Nevada. It was Bill who had given us the call about planting a church in Fernley. When we received the phone call, Rod had just gotten up from laying facedown out in the field behind our house crying out to God for direction for our life and ministry. I love it when God orchestrates His will and purpose in advancing His Kingdom to include mere mortals such as ourselves in the mix, don't you?

Being a parachute-drop church plant meant that we started with no one but ourselves...Rod, myself and our kids. So the support of Stadia and Hope was essential for accountability.

As we grew, and Rod poured into a group of about ten men who grew to be Journey's Leadership team, we were able to wean ourselves from that extra level of accountability. However, prayer support from our friends at Hope will always be needed and appreciated.

On January 11, 2015, Journey had her first Elder Ordination Service. Our first Elders were three men who had served long and faithfully on the Leadership Team at Journey. Pictured below are Matt, David, and Denny with their lovely wives. Journey is blessed to have such God-seeking and God-honoring men willing to serve.

Journey's first Elders and their lovely wives

Rod during the Ordination Service

Journey will continue to be an instrument to advance God's Kingdom in Fernley and the surrounding areas. Through advancing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and serving the community, it is my prayer that the church will continue to shine the light of Jesus and present themselves as agents of God's love and grace.

What a privilege and honor it has been to have been used in this way...to be even a small part of advancing the Church which, as Jesus tells Peter, the gates of hell cannot prevail against.